Mozilla kicks off global 'digital literacy' programme

Washington: The Mozilla Foundation is expecting more than 1, 00,000 people to participate in a series of events in at least 368 locations, including in India, over the next two months teaching basic Internet use and other digital skills.

‘Webmaker’ events, which run through September 15, aim to boost so-called digital literacy skills, including computer coding, designing Web pages, and creation of apps and videos.

The kick-off begins this weekend in Kampala, Uganda, and includes events in at least 368 locations from New York and San Francisco to cities in India, Indonesia and several African countries.

"Digital literacy is as important as reading, writing and math in modern society," Mozilla Foundation executive director Mark Surman said.

"We set out with these parties to teach the world how the Web works," he added.

Surman said the effort is part of a broader goal to help get more people around the world connected to the Internet, and to help them use it in more active ways.

“Technology should be something we all can take control of, not something that is given to us by companies," Surman said.

Surman said that this is the third year of the campaign and he added that he hopes to double the participation-level of around 60,000 people last year. The maker parties are mostly locally organized with volunteers, with some technical help from Mozilla.

This campaign is bigger and broader than efforts by other organizations to teach children to code. And it is based on the premise that most of the world's population will be online soon, with traditional computers or mobile devices like smartphones.

"In the end the broad majority of people are going to have a computer in their hands or in their pockets in the next few years. We need to make sure those five billion people understand what the Web is now,” Surman said.